THE SHADOW & STAR is one of the books I read more times. Recently I could read FLOWERS IN THE WIND and THE DREAM HUNTER and I absolutly loved them. They really are gutwrenching and beutifully poingnant. The H are real. Well, I think you all described perfectly the feelings she evocates when you read them.

One author I began to admire very very much is Sherry Thomas. her NOT QUITE A HUSBAND overwheld me with emotions.

I searched my keeper´s shelves to see wich author & books I coul recommends to someone who “likes” LL, and these I selected:

ADELE ASHWORTH Winter garden
LORETTA CHASE Abandonada a tus caricias & Toda una dama(I don´t know the english title)
DEBORAH SMITH The beloved woman
KAREN ROBARDS Nobody´s angel
JESSICA DOUGLASS All my heart can hold
JENNIFER BLAKE Southern rapture
MEAGAN MCKINNEY Fair is the rose

There is an argentinian author that I think yo´ll enjoy: CRISTINA BAJO.

but i do find it so interesting that so many folks’ favorite is FFTS! i love all her books but i think the dream hunter, for my lady’s heart, and shadowheart have to be my faves… though POM is up there as my first intro to her, serendipitously picked up in a Florida bookstore devoted to used romance novels. bless the person with that business plan and bless whatever cosmic hand guided me to Kinsale that day…

but most of all i want to say THANK YOU so much to everyone on this little chat for giving me some great leads to follow up on and reviving my faith in the genre. i think we can all agree that LK stands alone but yes, i do need something to read until the publishing industry comes to its senses and gets her latest out there! many many thanks!

If you’re looking for amazing character development, Robin Hobb’s trilogies, The Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, and the Tawny Man Trilogy do it for me. Which leads me to this point: some authors use plot development and constant action to drag their readers through their stories. Although I can get caught up in the action, these books usually leave me feeling a bit empty at the end. It’s a rare author who can combine deep character development along with exciting action. I did not feel empty at all at the end of Hobb’s books; in fact, they’re the first books ever to make me cry.

And here’s my final point. Kinsale’s TSATS and Hart’s Broken are two books that don’t require boatloads of action to fill up the story (although you could say that the erotic aspects of Broken are plenty of action, but really are entirely necessary to understand the complexities of the characters). I never felt like either story was being driven by a plot. In my mind, both books achieved a certain stillness that permitted me to relish each word, and deeply explore the subtleties of the characters.

Victoria — I’ve never read Elizabeth DeLancey — will have to check her out. Georgette Heyer’s books are wonderful but a lot more humorous than Kinsale’s and don’t have the same angst.

Lori –I think the only books on your list that I’ve read are Monson’s Rangoon and Feather’s Virtue. I enjoyed both, and Virtue was a keeper for me. I did try Ryman’s Olivia and Jai once, but it didn’t grab me and I found the length (700+ pages, IIRC) intimidating, so I never finished. I have not heard of all the authors on your list, so it’s good to learn about them.

Thank you both!

I’ll second Selene’s recommendation of Juliet Marillier’s “Daughter of the Forest”. It’s a very grim fairytale but breathtakingly beautiful (grim as in, proving it through trials of life and not like the horror you find in Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels). It has loads of Kinsale attributes that you say appeal to you, including loads of angst, emotional involvement, truly heroic characters and it’s so beautifully written. Fantastic book.

Kat said:
“I think I’m probably one of the few people who was left unsatisfied by the romantic plot of Shinn’s Archangel”

You and me both then Kat. For me, it needed lots more H and H interaction and dialogue for the romance to be satisfying. A developing love match shown by lots of sulking and avoidance of each other does not make a satisfying romantic read, despite the fabulous romantic “aahhh” ending. IMO.
The same goes for the romance in Sunshine by Robin McKinley IMO, far too much of the heroines thoughts about him and them together and not enough real interaction between the two of them. Apart from being unsatisfying romances I thought both books were otherwise great.
From what you’ve all been saying I’m hopefully thinking Kinsale will give me plenty of focus on the H and H’s interaction in the “show” not “tell” format.

I just love this series!

I tend to read for story and not style, so when I think of folks comparable to Kinsale, I don’t think of the stylists as much as others may.

Do you think it is so hard to find comparable authors to Laura Kinsale because nobody balances the high highs with the low lows like Kinsale does? Her characters – particularly in my “big three” of Kinsale: Flowers From the Storm, The Shadow and the Star and Seize the Fire – experience really tragic lows – and she shows this at some point during her stories, and she shows them struggling to overcome these tragedies. For me, that makes the highs so much higher and more satisfying. I can’t think of anyone else who goes for those tragic lows over the course of her stories.

Well, now that I say this, I can think of a few examples of stories containing/showing tragic lows – but from authors with different voices – and surprisingly several U.S. set historicals and not surprisingly longer novels than are published today.

Lorraine Heath’s Always to Remember
Mary Jo Putney’s – One Perfect Rose, The Rake and the Reformer, The Burning Point, The Wild Child, The Bartered Bride
Judy Cuevas’s Dance
Megan Chance’s Fall from Grace
Catherine Anderson’s older, historical westerns such as Keegan’s Lady, Cheyenne Amber, Annie’s Song
SEP’s Fancy Pants
Mary Balogh’s A Precious Jewel

I know what you mean, but I don’t feel that way myself.

Oh, of course, everyone’s interpretation of a book is different (that is one of the great things about books). I hope I didn’t come across as implying my interpretation was the correct one or anything.

I read more romance than fantasy because I need the happy endings and the love stories, but if you know of fantasy books that have that, as well as “more conflict and more tough choices,” I would be happy to have some recommendations. Esp. if they write anything like Kinsale.

You may enjoy Laura Resnick’s trilogy starting with “In legend born”. It has a love story (though it develops over all three books), wonderful characterizations, an intriguing plot and no Great Evil Lord (one of the tropes of fantasy I tend not to like). Plus, the plot takes some unexpected turns…

Kushiel’s Dart that was mentioned upthread is also fantasy with a love story and hard choices, although in writing style it is not much like Kinsale, IMO. The internal conflict (which is a part of the love story) is great, although it would be spoiler-ish to say what it is. :-)

Another one I like which has a romancs as the main plot is Juliet Marillier’s “Daughter of the forest”. It’s a celtic fantasy which also has good characterizations and what I’d call “lush” prose.

Selene

And of course there are readers who simply don’t enjoy Kinsale!

Yes, and that’s perfectly okay too. We can’t all love the same authors. And these discussions would be a lot less interesting if we all agreed on everything.

Her writing is amazing, I just utterly failed to connect with the heroine in FFTS. I’ve been holding off trying a second book, because I wanted to be able to come to it with an open mind (and I wanted to make sure I tried one that might be more “me” if that was an option). Sounds like it might be. Yea!

I hope FMLH works for you, Kalen.

So it’s possible that another Kinsale might work for you. And of course there are readers who simply don’t enjoy Kinsale!

Her writing is amazing, I just utterly failed to connect with the heroine in FFTS. I’ve been holding off trying a second book, because I wanted to be able to come to it with an open mind (and I wanted to make sure I tried one that might be more “me” if that was an option). Sounds like it might be. Yea!

I finally bit the bullet last year and bought the perpetual favorite of reviewers everywhere: Flowers from the Storm. It’s a DNF for me.

I had a friend who enjoyed The Shadow and the Star, but couldn’t finish Flowers From the Storm. So it’s possible that another Kinsale might work for you. And of course there are readers who simply don’t enjoy Kinsale!